Car, especially trailer, with tiltable body



Kb SCHRQTER ET AL CARS, ESPECIALLY TRAILERS, WITH TILTABLE BODIES March28, 1944.

Filed Jan. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-heet l March 28, 1944. I K,

SCHROTYER 'ET 1. 2,345,159

CARS- ESPECIALLY TRAILERS, WITH 'IILTABLE BODIES Filed Jan. 13, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 2 hue/rim:

S f an B5 c ro er a Hans: chat Patented Mar. 28, 1944 UNITED? sures eraoAR;-'-EsPEcIALLY 'rrtnltnm wrtrifi TILTABLE BODY Kurt Schriiter-and:Hans Schriiter, Wechmar,

Gotha-Landf. Germany Property Custodian ApplicationJanuaryfB, iMriserial vested in the Ali err Ourinvention relates to vehicles;especially.- trailers; With tilt'able-bodiesg andhas for one pensationdevice arranged to tend to swing? on'e axlewima direction contrary I tothe movement 'ofthesecond axle when the latter-is being' swung; as whenthe vehicle is running on uneven ground,

whereby: the wheeled underframe maintains a balanced position -betweenthe two aXles.

In-freight cars, trailers; and like vehicles; particularly when used foragriculture work or in yardswhere building i construction is proceeding, there arises thedrawback that the uneven ground producesstrongtorsional strains on I the frame members and associated parts; renderingidiffidrawbacks. By virtue of applicants arrangement of tiltingbody,compensati'ng deviceand wheehsupporting underframe, the vehicles"equipped" inaccordance with the present inventioncan be readily tiltedi relatively to- I the f wheeled under frame despite uneven groundconditions, and without impairing the stability of the vehicle;

Another advantage of the present invention is that it permits the use"of the body tilting mechanism to lift a single wheel from the ground,as, for example, when a tire must be replaced on such' wheel.

A further advantage presented-by ourinventron is'that the car body isguided during the tilting, and "the movement of the axle frames'inupward direction is restricted. The car designed the groundy the centerof "gravity of the'load' bein'g'fnevertheless; not elevated duringthetilt ing procedure.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically and by -way" of example inthe accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a "side-elevation" of atrailer having a tiltable body andequipped with a compensation deviceaccording to" this invention. Figure 2 is a'rear elevationofsaidtrailer, Figure3 is' a rear'elevation showingth'e hodytilted'. Figure isa rearelevation similar to Figsl but showingone wheel lifted; Figure 5cult the usual operations of tilting the bodies. and moving the vehicleswherever desired. The present invention is designed to overcome I suching -the crank in the one Y or the other direction the nut 6 iscorrespondinglymoved along the e Figure "6 is a lane 'view- 'showing thecom: pensation device and Figurei 'l is- :a--vertica1 sec tion alongtheline 'I of Fi'gur-e 6.

The-wheeled' fram or the cargxor the bodyi'l 10 respectivelyjis tiltablwithz respect' to the longia The="-fr ame or b'odyd is; .for thispurpose, supported together withthe supporting:- bearings l 3 dipo'n theiaxle frames l I and l z which are turnabley-together with said bearingsion said' carrier This latte'r is connect'd with fith itiltablebody I by*a member'S which is:transverselyrshiftable andpreferably adjustable inits longitudinal" directions Said" member- 3 -is formedg in thezexampleshown, by

threading into -a :portion -of a ball-joint 5" substantially as showninsF'igw 5; also threads through a nut-=6=-which is 'J'ournal1ed in an armI of-/-the=longitudinaltcarrier 2; substantially- :as shown 'inwFigs; 3and :6.- spindle r ispreferablyi-shaped so thata -handcrank 4- can beapplied to either end; By :turn:

spindle- 3 whereby the-distance between- 'thearm I which isrigidly=connected withthe centrallongitudinabcarrier 2;and the-bal1--joint 5mountnie body WiII-Qtheremre, be tilted to the oneor' other sideaccordingl-lto-the direction of rotation of-the spindle,thewbodysturning-first on thecarrier with its supporting bearings 13stillin contact therewith,

The ground compensation device itself may be of"any;desiredkiiown'desigm In the form herei inillustrated bylway ofexample .it memes: a

vert'ic'all' pivot "l8 (Figi' U attached to the longitudina1"carrie'r-2. a compensation lever B being rot'atabliabout the pivht l8.Themember'r consists of a lever in"skelet6n"f6rm with a central crosspiecerotatabl'e' upon'the pivot-l8 andwith ball-shaped ends which areconnected'by sockets H i T with axle'fr'ame's l 4' "and "12 "swingableabout "the'longitudina'l carrier 2 These axle frames carry-t woupwardlyand inwardly fdirected"stifi-' I eni'ng"stru'ts"|6,at"theinhersection ofwhich are mounted the sockets I] forthejendsof the a compensationlever-"*8 which isffslig'htly movable in'- vertical-direction"upon'itspivot 1 a "in" addition a =spindlesthreaded throughout the majorportionsof:itshleng-th and engaging the bo'dyel by ed near one side-.ofthe-iramaor body:l isvaried.

to being rotatable about the pivot It. The arm 1 is mounted upon thepivot l8 and firmly connected therewith, so that the arm 1 is firmlyconnected with the longitudinal carrier 2. The arm 1 consists of twospaced side pieces or brackets which are attached at their lowerextremities to the pivot [8 on opposite sides thereof and carry betweentheir upper free ends the journalled nut 6 for the spindle 3. When anaxle frame is swung by an unevenness in the ground,

the compensation lever 8 swings-the other axle frame in the oppositedirection of rotation, so that the vehicle is maintained in a middleposition.

For guiding the body I while tilting supporting rolls 9 and curved lugsH] are provided which are connected with said body, and with the axleframes H and I2 respectively. If by turning the hand crank 4 and thespindle 3 the body has been laterally swung so that the supporting rolls9 attached to the body contact the said lugs l0, which are, at least inthe example shown, attached to the two upwardly inclined stiffeningstruts IS, the body will when the rotation of said spindle is continuedbe lifted together with its supporting bearings I3 from the longitudinalcarrier 2, substantially asshown in Fig. 3, the supporting rolls 9located on-the tilting side rolling upon the curved lugs l located onthe same side. The supportinglrolls serve at the same time for limitingthe extent of deviation of the axle frames H and I2. By this arrangementthe bottom of the body always clears the tires, and at the same time theadvantage is attained that in spite of the tilting angle of the body Ibeing the largest possible the loading surface does not lie too low inits middle position, viz, when it is not tilted.

The body is restrained by the scissor levers I4 arranged betweenthe'supporting bearings I3 and the longitudinal carrier 2, so that saidbearings always return to their normal positions contacting the carrierwhen the body is returned from a tilted position. 7

The supporting bearings l3 are lifted from the longitudinal carrier 2also when the car is running over a comparatively large obstacle in theroad, viz. when the axle frames II and 12 are so much turned withrespect to one another as well to the wheeledunderframe, or the body Irespectively, that the supporting rolls 9 contact with the curved lugsID of the said frames.

In all these cases the bottom of the body moves automatically in upwarddirection if the wheel tires approach it. It is, therefore, unnecessaryto provide'the bottom with so-called wheel boxes into which the upperportion of a wheel may extend.

If a wheel axle is connected with the body I at one side by means of anon-stretchable member, for instance a chain 15 (Fig. 4), and if thebody is then laterally tilted, so that such side is raised, the Wheellocated in the proximity of the chain will be raised along with it, sothat, for instance for exchanging a wheel tire, the otherwise requisitejacking or hoisting device can be dispensed with.

If low speeds are sufficient to attain the purposes in view, the axlesneed not be connected by springs with the body whereby the advantage isattained that the net weight of the car is considerably reduced.

In Fig. the ball joint 5 by the intermediary of which the spindle 3engages the tiltable body is separately illustrated and drawn on alarger scale. Said joint is provided with a transverse ball bearing 20active at both sides and inserted between two half-spheres l9 turnablysupported in correspondingly shaped hollow bearings and able to take upthe lateral pressure. The hollow bearing is bipartite and one of itsparts (2|) is adjustably connected with the other, stationary part forinstance by means of screw-threads.

- This other part may be made integral with the body I, if desired. Bydesigning the ball-joint 5 in this manner the 'friction arising withinit is greatly reduced.

We claim:

1. A car, comprising, in combination, a Wheeled underframe, at least twowheel axles forming parts of said frame and adapted to be swungrelatively to one another, on a longitudinal middle carrier common tothem, a tiltable body, a compensation device connecting said axles withone another and with said body, bearings supporting the body relativelyto said middle carrier, and supporting rolls and curved lugs attached tosaid wheeled underframe, said rolls rolling along upon said lugs whenthe body is being tilted and lifting said supporting bearings of thebody from the said longitudinal middle carrier.

2. A car, comprising, in combination, a wheeled underframe, at least twowheel axles forming parts of said frame and adapted to be swungrelatively to one another on a longitudina} middle carrier common tothem, a tiltable body, a compensation device connecting said axles withone another and with said body, bearings supporting the body relativelyto said middle carrier, sup* porting rolls and curved lugs attached tosaid wheeled underframe, said rolls rolling along upon said lu s whenthe body is being tilted and lifting said supporting bearings of thebody from the said longitudinal middle carrier, and a member guiding thesupporting bearings and making the tiltable body again contact with thelongitudinal carrier when being rearwardly moved.

3. A car, comprising, in combination, a wheeled underframe, at least twowheel axles forming part of said frame and adapted to be swungrelatively to one another on a longitudinal middle carrier common tothem, a tiltable body, a compensation device connecting said axles withone another and with said body, bearings supporting the body relativelyto said middle and being connected with the longitudinal middle carrierby lugs connected like scissors with one another, and supporting rollsand curved lugs attached to said wheeled underframe, said rolls rollingalong upon said lugs when the body is being tilted and lifting saidsupporting bearings of the body from the said longitudinal middlecarrier. I

4. A car, comprising, in combination, a wheeled underframe, at least twowheel axles forming parts of said frame and adapted to be swungrelatively to one another, on a longitudinal middle carrier common tothem, a tiltable body, a compensation device connecting said axles withone another and with said body, and an adjusting mechanism comprising aspindle, a ball-joint engaging the tiltable body, and a turnable jointnut supported at an arm connected with the longitudinal middle carrier.

underframe, .at least two wheel axles forming parts of said frame andadapted to beswung rela-.

tively to one another, on a longitudinal middle carrier common tonthem,a tiltable body, acorn-1 pensation device connecting said axles with oneanother and with said body, andan adjusting mechanism comprising aball-joint consisting of a transverse ball bearing acting in twodirections and being connected with said tiltable body, and a turnablejoint nut supported in an arm connected with the said longitudinalmiddle carrier.

6. A car, comprising, in combination, a wheeled underframe, at least twowheel axles forming parts of said frame and adapted to be swungrelatively to one another on a longitudinal middle carrier common tothem, a tiltable body, a compensation device connecting said axles withone another and with said body, and an adjusting mechanism comprising aball-joint consisting of a transverse ball bearing acting in twodirections and being arranged between two half-spheres and withinbearing brasses lying within a hollow ball bearing, and of a joint-nutlocated upon said adjusting mechanism and being supported in an armconnected with the said longitudinal middle carrier.

7. A car, comprising, in combination, a wheeled underframe, at least twowheel axles forming parts of said frame and adapted to be swungrelatively to one another on a longitudinal middle carrier common tothem, a tiltable body, a com-' pensation device connecting said axleswith one another and with said body, and a draft member connecting saidbody with every wheel axle and being able to lift a wheel from thebottom when the said body is tilted. KURT SCHRGTER.

HANS SCHRGTER.

